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Pastor Supports Trump Over Jesus' Sermon (Video)

Pastor Robert Jeffress defended his support of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 12 by saying that the U.S. needs a "strongman" as president not someone who follows Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount (video below).

Jeffress, who is head of First Baptist Dallas, said he would "run" from a candidate who followed Jesus' sermon during an interview with radio host Mike Gallagher:

But as far as his worldview, Trump's world view, I was debating an evangelical professor on NPR and this professor said, "Pastor, don’t you want a candidate who embodies the teaching of Jesus and would govern this country according to the principles found in the Sermon on the Mount?"

I said, "Heck no." I would run from that candidate as far as possible because the Sermon on the Mount was not given as a governing principle for this nation. Nowhere is government told to forgive those who wrong it, nowhere is government commanded to turn the other cheek.

Government is to be a strongman to protect its citizens against evildoers. When I’m looking for somebody who’s going to deal with ISIS and exterminate ISIS, I don’t care about that candidate’s tone or vocabulary, I want the meanest, toughest, son of a you-know-what I can find, and I believe that’s Biblical.

In September 2015, Jeffress was supporting then-GOP candidate Ben Carson and told OneNewsNow: "To say that a candidate's faith doesn't make any difference is absolutely ridiculous."

Jeffress also advised Christian voters to use a "religious litmus story" to select their candidate.

After endorsing Trump in March, Jeffress told Breitbart News: "Every Christian has the right to his own opinion about a presidential candidate, but no Christian has the right to impose his preference as a litmus test for someone else’s Christianity or spirituality."